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Man in custody, dog OK after K-9 squad theft
Tribune staff reports
Published June 3, 2004, 1:20 PM CDT
A Chicago police dog is recovering from a punch in the snout and may be in line for a departmental commendation after stopping a man who allegedly tried to steal a K-9 unit squad car this morning – only to discover the dog in the back seat.
The dog attacked and the man crashed the squad car into a dumpster, pushing it through the brick wall of a building in the Portage Park neighborhood of the city's Northwest Side, WGN-Ch. 9 reported.
The suspect was in custody this afternoon. No charges had been filed.
The incident began about 4:45 a.m. when a K-9 unit officer and his four-legged partner responded to a report of a robbery in progress on the 5900 block of West Irving Park Road.
A 260-pound suspect who had just taken a woman's purse overpowered the officer, jumped in the squad car and sped off, police said.
What the man did not count on was Cliff, a 4 ½-year-old, 100-pound Czechoslovakian shepherd in the back seat, WGN reported. The dog started biting the suspect, and the man only got about a block before crashing the vehicle. The suspect allegedly tried to flee on foot.
"A big gentlemen comes running out of neighbor's bushes, runs up to my porch and says, 'Help me, they're trying to shoot me,'" a neighborhood resident, Anthony Pecoraro, told WGN.
"So I put on my shoes and grabbed my baseball bat and walked out of the house, and he's cutting through my neighbor's yard, running down the alley. Two seconds later, the police are running behind him."
Police quickly apprehended the suspect.
Cliff's human partner sustained a minor hand injury, police said. He was treated at a local hospital and released. A veterinarian checked out Cliff, who had been punched by the suspect during the struggle in the squad car, police said.
The car sustained extensive front-end damage, as did the wall of the Western Catholic Union. The not-for-profit organization this afternoon was trying to salvage 200 to 300 bags of donated clothes it had collected for distribution to nursing homes and shelters, WGN reported.
Tribune staff reporter Nancy Ryan and Tribune wires contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune
